Body of missing teen Agostina Vega found in Córdoba field

The body of 14-year-old Agostina Vega was discovered on Saturday in a field adjacent to the Ampliación Ferreyra neighborhood in the southeast of Córdoba, Argentina. Vega had been missing for a week, having last been seen on May 23.

Investigators focused their search on the field after police camera footage showed Claudio Gabriel Barrelier, the only person arrested in connection with her disappearance, entering and leaving the neighborhood. Barrelier, 33, admitted to having been in the specific field where Vega's body was found, located about 17 kilometers from his home.

Vega disappeared on the evening of May 23 after taking a taxi from her home to Barrelier's residence. Barrelier, who is the ex-partner of Vega's mother, paid the taxi driver, and the teenager then exited the vehicle. Her whereabouts remained unknown until her body was found just before the seven-day mark of her disappearance.

Security camera footage from the area had previously shown a young woman entering Barrelier's home on the night Vega went missing. Barrelier's defense lawyer had initially denied the footage showed Agostina, claiming it was his client's 11-year-old daughter. The provincial Minister of Security, Juan Pablo Quinteros, stated that the investigation led them to the field based on the suspect's movements prior to his arrest.